GREAT BARRINGTON, MA—Bard College at Simon’s Rock will kickoff its Black History Month celebration with the Second Annual Gospel Concert on Saturday, February 4, 2017 at 7 p.m. in the Daniel Arts Center. The concert will feature a range of traditional and contemporary gospel music by returning choirs from the Macedonia Baptist Church of Albany, NY—Praise Ensemble, Ivey Squared, and Mount Pleasant Liturgical Dancers—and the Shiloh Youth Choir of Hudson, NY. This event is free and open to the public.

The concert will also feature special performances by Rufus Jones, Co-Founder and President of the James Weldon Johnson Foundation, and Arielle King, a Simon’s Rock junior and the impetus behind the annual event. Jones will lead the audience in a rendition of Johnson’s Lift Every Voice and Sing, also known as the Black National Anthem. King will perform as both a soloist and a member of her church choir, Macedonia Baptist Church Praise Ensemble. Read More